Valve mechanism for internal-combustion engines.



A. E'. KREMER..

- VALVE MECHANISM FORINTERNAL'COMBUSTION ENGINES. APPLICATION man MAR. 25. 1914. BE-NEWED MAR. 14. 1918.

I 1,281,794. Patented 00*. 15, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET Q IWIII M Q Q N A. E-. KREMER. VALVE MECHANISM FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINfS. APPLICATION FILED MAR..26, l9l4- REVNE WED MAR. I4. 1918.

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VALVE MECHANISM FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 26, I914. RENEWED MAR. 14. I9l8. 1,281,794. Patented 00t.15, 191

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ALPHONSE E. KREMER, OE GULFPOBT, MISSISSIPPI.

VALVE MECHANISM FOR INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES.

Applicationfiled March 26, 1914, Serial No. 827,419. Renewed March 14, 1918.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALPHONSE E. KREMER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Gulfport, in the county of Harrison and State of Mississippi, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Valve Mechanism for Internal Combustion Engines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to internal combustion engines and particularly to that type of engine wherein a rotary valve is use for the purpose of controlling admission of charges to the several cylinders and the exhaust of the burned gases therefrom.

The primary object of my invention is the provision of a very simple, effective and positively operating valve mechanism, for the purpose above described.

A further object of the invention is to so construct the valve mechanism that the cylinder need have but one port in the head, this port serving as the inlet port and exhaust port, the construction of the engine permitting this port to be larger than the ports controlledby puppet valves and thus permitting a higher piston speed to be secured.

Another object of the invention is to so construct the engine that it may have but a single intake pipe for any number of cylinders, the exhaust manifold being omitted altogether. Y

A furtherobject of the invention is to do away with trouble caused by the deposit of carbon upon the valve faces, by so forming the valve mechanism that there will be no puppet valves to grind.

A further object of the invention is to so construct the valve controlling the inlet of fresh charges and the outlet of exhaust gases that the incoming gases willbe heated by the exhaust gases.

A further object of the invention is to so form the valve that the charge coming from the carbureter will be forced into the cylinder by a screwing action, the exhaust gases being withdrawn from the cylinder in the same positive manner.

A further object of the invention is to provide a construction wherein the port leading into the cylinder is positively opened and closed to control the events of the engine instead of the inlet valve being controlled by the suction of the engine. 7

Patented Oct. 15, 1918.

Serial No. 222,516.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a front elevation of the engine constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section therethrough on the line 2+2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3. Y

Fig. 5 is a section on the'line 5-5 of Fig. 3. v I

Fig. 6 is an elevation of the valve, and

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view of the valve laid out.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the accompanying drawings by the same reference characters.

Referring to these drawings and particularly to Fig. 3, it will be seen that my improved engine as embodied in' these drawings comprises a plurality of cylinders designated respectively, A, B, G, and D, these cylinders being all the same construction and being mounted upon a crank case 2, which may be formed in any suitable manner. The cylinders A, B, C and D ar all jacketed, as usual. Each cylinder at its upper end in the head 3 thereof is formed with a port 4, this port being'disposed at the center of the cylinder and having downwardly and outwardly flaring side walls. The port has a length nearly equal to the diameter of the cylinder. Passing through the crank case 2 is a crank shaft 5 carrying the usual cranks 6 which are connected to the piston rods 7 of the several pistons 8 operating in the several cylinders.

As illustrated, the crank shaft 5 carries the usual fiy-wheel 9. The particular construction of the crank and of the crank case forms no part of my present invention-except that as illustrated, the crank shaft at the end opposite the fly-wheel is shown as provided with a sprocket wheel 10.

Disposed above-the several heads 3 of the cylinders and extending longitudinally of the engine parallel to the crank-shaft and preferably formed integral with the several heads is a cylindrical valve casing 11 which is shown as formed with an outer and an inner wall 12 spaced from each other to provide a water jacket. The several ports 4: all open into this valve casing. One end of the valve casing is closed by a head 18 having an exhaust outlet pipe lt projecting from it and the other end is provided with a head 15 having an inlet opening 16 formed in it, these heads being detachable. Q

Mounted within the valve casing is the rotary valve 17 illustrated in detail in Figs. 6and 7 One end of this valve has a hollow trunnion 18 which coincides with the exhaust passage 14 while the other end of the valve is formed with a hollow trunnion 19 which registers with the opening 16 in the head 15. These trunnions 18- and 19 are supported by means of rollers or ball bearings 20 disposedv in the ends of the valve casing. The trunnion 19 is shown as having mounted upon it a sprocket wheel 21 from which a sprocket chain 22 passesto the sprocket wheel 10. The chain 22 also passes over a sprocket wheel 23 mounted within the chain casing 2 1. This sprocket wheel is mounted upon a shaft 25 which extends across the front of the engine as shown clearly in Fig. 1, and is connected to a pumping device for forcing cold water in the water jackets surrounding the cylinders and the valve.

As shown in Fig. 6, the valve 17 may be considered as divided into four sections a, Z), 0 and d, corresponding to the four cylinders A, B, C and D, and controlling the events of these cylinders, respectively. Transversely the valve is of inverted T-shape, as shown clearly in Fig. 4. That is, the valve is formed with a solid portion 26 which has an annular extent equal to about onehalf of the circumference of the valve and extending radially from the solid portion 26 is a septum 27 defining an intake passage 28 and an exhaust passage 29.

By reference to Fig. 7 it will be seen that the solid portion 26, the septum 27 and. the

' passages 28 and 29 all extend parallel to each other and in a helical curve or Spiral around the longitudinal axis of the valve, the spiral making one complete turn for the entire length of the valve. The shell of the valve is formed with intake ports 30 and exhaust ports 31, there being anintake port and an exhaust port for each section a, b, 0 and d of the valve. The septum 27' separatesv the inlet ports from the exhaust ports on one side of the valve and the solid portion 26 separates the exhaust and. inlet ports on the other side. The outer edgeportion of the septum is thickened, as shown most clearly in Figs; 4 and 5, to obtain a sulfieiently broad bearing upon the. inner wallof the valve casing to maintain a close joint andrprevent. leakfrom one port to the other. Inasmuch as the exhaust and intake passages. are spiral. it. follows that the intake port of one section of the valve will be arranged in stepped relation to the intake port of the next adjacent section. The intake passage is closed at the exhaust end of the valve and is open at the opposite end to take gas from the inlet opening 16 while the exhaust passage is closed at the. intake end of the valve and opens into the exhaust outlet V The firing order of the engine is D, C, B and A in the order named and the cycle of the engineis as follows:

Referring particularly to Fig. 8, and to the cylinder C the piston is at the top of its compression. stroke and the charge is ready to fire, the port in the cylinder being closed by the solid portion 26-of the valve, as. shown. When the piston has reached the bottom of its working stroke, the valve, which is rotated at one-half the speed of the crank-shaft 5-, will have made a quarter of a revolution and the solid portion will have passed the port and will uncover this port so that the port 4: is in communication with the exhaust passage 29 through the exhaust port 31. These ports remain in register un til the piston has-reached. the top of the exhaust stroke. When this position of the piston is reached the valve will have made another quarter of a revolution and the port twill be closed by the rib of the septum 27. The piston is nowready to start down on the suction or intake stroke and as the piston starts down the valve will have rotated to bring the intake passage 30 into communication with the port 4c, and this intake i passage remains open until the completion of the intake stroke.

When the piston hasreaehed the bottom of the intake stroke which is the position of the piston in cylinder B, the valve will have made another quarter revolution and the solid portion of the valve will close the port 4 which will remain closed during both the compression and the working stroke. When the piston reaches the top of its compression stroke, which isi theposition of the piston in cylinder C, the engine will have completed its cycle.

As the cylinders. of the engine in the arrangement illustrated inthe drawings fire a half revolution of-the crank shaft apart, the ports in the valve for the next cylinder to fire are located or timed one-fourth of a revolutionof. the valve later than the ports for the preceding cylinder.

While I- have illustrated thev valve as being driven at one-half the speed of the crank shaft 5 by means of the sprocket chain 22, I wish .it' understood that I may use any other method: of. transmitting power from the crank-shaft to thevalve and that while the portsin this; valve, whilearranged for the. cylinders; to fire; one-half of a revolution of the crankshaft apart, it is. obvious that this timing of the cylinders maybe changed by changing the pitch of the spiral passages and by changing the rate of rotation of the valve with relation to the crank shaft.

It will be seen that the ports in the cylinders extend diametrically across the cylinder head and have approximately the same extent as the diameter of the cylinder and that hence these ports permit the engine to have a higher piston speed than is possible where relatively contracted ports are used controlled by puppet valves. Inasmuch as the valve is in continuous contact with the valve casing and moves positively, there will be no deposit of carbon upon the valves. Where puppet valves are used carbon is very likely to be deposited upon the valve seat, thus preventing the full closing of the valve and, furthermore, the wear of the valves constantly compels the regrinding of the valves to fit the seats.

It will be noted that in other forms of internal combustion engines a separate intake pipe must be provided for each cylinder, these intake pipes leading from a common manifold. With my construction only one intake pipe is used which communicates through the valve with all of the cylinders. Inasmuch as the exhaust gases are disposed on one side of the septum 27 and the fresh gas is disposed on the other side of the septum, it is obvious that the incoming charge will be heated by the exhaust gases and thus put in the best condition for securing effective work. Inasmuch as the passage 28 is spirally arranged, it will act as a screw, drawing in the gases from the intake pipe and forcing these gases positively into the several cylinders, while the spiral exhaust passage will act as a screw to positively withdraw the exhaust gases from the cylinders and positively force these exhaust gases out through the exhaust pipe.

As the exhaust gas has to pass out through the helical passage 29, it will be obvious that this exhaust passage will act as a mufiier, and that the engine Wlll be practically noiseless.

Of course, while I have illustrated an engine having four cylinders, it is obvious that any number of cylinders may be provided and that the valve will operate equally Well 311 this last case as it would with four cyliners.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new is In an internal combustion engine, the combination of a plurality of cylinders each having a single port extending diametrically across its end in a plane common to all the cylinders, a cylindrical valve casing extending across the ends of all the cylinders and into which all said ports directly open, detachable heads closing the ends of said casing, one of said heads having an inlet port and the other head having an outlet port, a rotatable cylindrical valve in said casing bearing directly upon the ends of the cylinders and provided at both its ends with hollow trunnions, one of said trunnions registering with the inlet port of the valve cas ing and the other trunnion registering with the outlet port of the valve casing, and rollers fitted around said trunnions between the ends of the valve and the respectively adj acent ends of the valve casing, the valve being constructed with a thin septum extending longitudinally thereof in a spiral direction whereby spiral passages are provided at the sides of the septum leading respectively from the inlet port of the valve casing and to the outlet port of the same and with a solid portion at one edge of the septum approximately equal to one-half the cross section of the valve, the valve being further provided with ports at both sides of the septum spaced apart longitudinally of the same whereby direct communication is established between the ports of the cylinders and the spiral passages of the valve.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALPHONSE E. KREMER. [L. s.] Witnesses:

NAT OWEN, GEO. P. HEWES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

